How did you learn to draw?

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What I mean is, when I learned to draw, I remember going through a long phase where I'd start at one end of the object-to-be-drawn, focussing on the details, and then move along detail by detail until the picture was complete. The main flaw was that I'd end up with lines that didn't join up, because I'd never stepped back to see how the whole thing was lining up. I had to apply a lot of self-discipline to "rough out" the basic picture first, which always felt wrong for me because the large, rough preliminary image seemed inappropriate, it was nothing like the final drawing was supposed to look like.....I hated anything that was fuzzy, I wanted everything to be sharp and clear-cut right from the start. But as soon as I started working on the detail, I no longer noticed whether the detail was being drawn in the right place on the paper.

I had similar problems with writing a line of words on a page so that they'd fit properly......they'd begin too large, and then get smaller as the right-hand edge of the paper came into view.

Is this something that all kids go through, or is it a sign of autism? Seems to me it could be a very direct way of telling whether a person has trouble shifting focus between the big picture and the detail.

I tried to get a friend to teach me, but she never did. Then I tried to watch a video, but it got deleted. I'm such a procrastinator.

I didn't learn it, it is my special talent (well that, and I just taught myself) I would show some cartoons, if I knew how to post pictures on here

How did I learn to draw? I really, really don't remember at all. I drew pretty much all the time when I was a kid and I don't remember my childhood thought processes (I'd love to, but I don't. Well, a few things I do remember, but that's it).
And how do I draw now...I draw something and then erase it because it sucked, try to draw it again, erase again, and it goes on and on until I've managed to draw one part semi-satisfyingly. Then I stare at the part that I finished for a long time. After quite some time, I'll go on and try to draw the other parts, with the same method.
And even with all this erasing and drawing again, my creations are very flawed.

The book "Drawing on the right side of the brain" really helped me improve my drawing skills - the Workbook is a collection of progressive exercises and is well worth getting in addition to the book. I am not good at drawing, but got to a stage where I am competent enough to enjoy the process. Betty Edwards has developed an entire industry around her methods http://www.drawright.com/

I used to try to aim for realism. I was too lazy/bored to aim for perfection, but I did draw at every single opportunity; it was a compulsion more than a hobby. Eventually, if you draw enough you get your own style and inch-by-inch you get better (I wouldn't recommend this method for anyone wanting to get there quickly).

It's kind of dried up recently though. The dreams and solitude that propelled them have gone due to work and relationships (the latter not a bad thing as a whole, but this is one thing I miss); I miss filling up an entire sketchbook with weird doodles over a weekend whilst listening to music.

Sometimes I'd leap ahead, by copying one picture from say a comic and then letting it influence my style for a while; eventually I'd lose interest, but each time a small bit sticks (e.g. a certain way of drawing a nose, or a hand)

I used to draw the details before the whole picture. Like, I'd start a face by drawing a fully detailed nose, and then I'd start drawing the other features around it. My high school art teacher had to keep telling me to focus on the whole picture first, and eventually I did start doing that. I think my art looks better now. When a drawing is just a collection of details instead of a whole, it looks off.

StuartN! I agree.

I am a professional designer and drawing is a part of of my skills. As a child I was interested in drawing but wasn't particularly good at it. My lack of ability was frustrating. In junior high, my drawings made a quantum leap. It occurred during a single session; as if something just clicked. The click that occurred is that I dropped all preconceived notions of what the subject of my drawing should look like and started transcribing only what I saw when looking at the subject.

I took an art minor in college with an emphasis on life drawing and daily practice increased my skill a lot; that was the kind of gradual steady progress pratice brings. Practice improves blocking the image on the page and connecting the end of the line to the beginning of it; the problem refered to by ToughDiamond. Frequent practice enables one to conquer that particular problem with less effort.

Early in my professional carreer I discovered Betty Edwards' book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and that triggered another leap in my ability, though not as startling as that 1st one in my adelescence. Betty Edwards' book explained in more depth and science what shift had occurred for me junior high, in that kind of ah ha way, that startles when encountering a personal phenomenon spelled out.

I have explored a few good books on drawing which were of some value for me but Betty Edwards' work is peerless. What I've learned in her books has opened better abilities for me in areas other than drawing, too. Bonus!

I've been drawing pretty much my whole life, but I didn't get serious about it until I was 11 or 12. That was when I asked my friend to teach me. She was really good at drawing anime-style people, and I wanted to be good at it too. She taught me to start at the head, then work my way down to the body. Since I started at the head, I would spend the bulk of my drawing time working on the face and hair, and I rushed through drawing the body. This resulted in a decent-looking face but a wildly out-of-proportion and anatomically incorrect body. Eventually I got tired of my work being criticized for being anatomically incorrect, so I spent some time teaching myself how to properly proportion body parts, and I try to force myself to spend more time working on the body rather than rushing through it like I used to.

I was never successful at drawing depth and shadow (as my art grades have shown). But I'm pretty good with animation and cartoons just by mimicking what I see. I can never draw people though. Only animals.

I did the same thing as the OP.
... and I just realised I still do it a lot now.

I've learned to draw by looking at pictures.

I started with the kitty's nose or eye but then when I finished it was a lopsided cat.

Now I draw doing those circles first so it all comes together nicely.

I started drawing when I was about 3. As soon as I could pick up a pencil and move on from drawing on walls to paper. I used to lie on the floor and draw underneath the lounge room table too.